Bobbie Burgers
"This body of work delves into the practice and rhythms involved in creating art. In general, the word ‘practice’ has been greatly overused and distorted by artists and designers. ‘My artistic practice’ or simply ‘my practice’ are the words used by creatives to refer to this ephemeral thing encompassing not only the physical results of their toil, but also their ideas, ethos, struggles, creative identity and sometimes even as vindication for or distraction from their lack of real outcomes. A Practice is something solid enough to be pointed to when asked, yet defies any real attempt at examination or substantiation. This has always been confounding to me, as I drag myself to a cold studio day after day, in the midst of painting a show, each day working for hours before finally finding momentum, only to leave and have the whole cycle begin again the next day.
To me, this isn’t A Practice, it is quite literally practice. Practicing the same brushstrokes until they become muscle memory and finally dissent to take on a life of their own, practicing the descent into that difficult-to-find subconscious place where there is flow and chaos but still control, practicing knowing when to stop and take a step back, knowing that when you do, you’re letting go of that state, and it will be many hours the next day to get back into it. That is often the hardest part; giving up that hard-earned flow and the feverish creativity that your worked so hard for. This show is in many ways a culmination of that practice, a physical embodiment of those creative rhythms; chaotic, wild and a reflection of my subconscious actions, yet trained by my conscious mind." - Bobbie Burgers
Biography
Bobbie Burgers’ large-scale paintings and drawings expand and explode the tradition of floral still-life with vivid, gestural blooms. In the more than two decades of her practice, her trajectory has moved from images approaching realism to, more recently, abstracted blossoms that double as metaphors for the act of painting, which Burgers compares to the brief, fragile lifespan of a flower: a moment to be grasped “with all its frailty and complexity.”
Burgers is interested in the process of decay, transformation, and metamorphosis. With a distinct style that merges abstraction with representation in increasing degrees, her work brings together instinctive compositions while revealing her precise powers of observation. Remarkable for their compositional rhythms, bold coloration, and sweeping gestural brushstrokes, Burgers’ paintings bring alive the fundamental quest to express something personal, subjective and emotive, in a poetic, abstract way.
Largely self-taught, Burgers has drawn inspiration from early Dutch still-lifes and the history of Chinese painting, which she investigated in-depth during her travels for a recent exhibition of her work in Beijing. Her paintings have been compared to and exhibited alongside those of Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell, and Jack Shadbolt—artists who, like Burgers, are interested in the relationship between art and nature at the core. Of Burgers’ take on this relationship, Critic Dorota Kozinska has written that her “subject never feels excised from nature, but rather breathed in and exhaled as art.”
Burgers lives and works in her hometown of Vancouver, where she received the Vancouver FANS award in 2013 and teaches at the Gordon Smith Foundation. She has exhibited her work at galleries, museums, and art fairs internationally.
Born
Vancouver 1973
Selected Corporate Collections
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Toronto, ON • Fraser, Milner & Casgrain LLP, Edmonton, AB • Global Affairs Canada • Manulife Financial, Toronto, ON • Weber Shandwick • Thorn Mark Investments • Ministry Of Foreign Affairs, Canada • Lawson Lundel Lawson • Sutton Place Hotel • Pen-Cor Mortage and Investments • Royal Bank of Canada • Scotia Mcleod • Nordstrom’s, New York City • Liquidity Wines • Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Toronto, ON • Vancouver General Hospital • Thornmark Asset Management Inc., Toronto, ON
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024 A Window or A Mirror, Equinox Gallery, Toronto, ON
Time Flows Through Narrow Spaces, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Montecito and St. Helena, CA
2023 Winged Victory, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, ON
Partly Truth PArtly Fiction, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2022 Forest for the Trees, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
The After Party, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Between Always and Never, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, ON
Transcribing the Elements, Tayloe Piggott Gallery, Jackson Hole, Wyoming
2021 The Hard Work of Spring, West Vancouver Art Museum, West Vancouver, BC
Storms & Calm Waters, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, ON
Folding Outwards, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, CA.
2020 The Tender and the Unnerving, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto
Equinox Gallery, Vancouver
Papier Contenporary Art Fair, Montreal
2019 SCOPE Miami, Caldwell Snyder Gallery
Maximalist, Minimalst, Caldwell Snyder Gallery. St. Helena
Fragile State, Equinox Gallery. Vancouver
Harmony Arts Festival, Ferry Building Gallery, Vanouver
Art Toronto
2018 Perception of Sound, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco
Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
Art Beijing
Art Toronto
2017 An Outline Broken, Cohim Gallery, Beijing, China
Art Toronto, Toronto, CA
Art Market San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Impure Crystals, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
2016 Bitter Sweet, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, CA.
Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto, ON.
Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, QC.
2015 Innocent Disobedience, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Seeds of Rebellion, Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto, ON.
A Beautiful Rebellion, Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
The Quiet Revolution, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, QC.
2014 Suspended Between Sweetness & Sorrow, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, CA.
Lovely Fugitive, Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto, ON.
The Lure of Magical Thinking, Bau-Xi, Vancouver, BC.
Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, QC.
Stories That We Tell, Couture Galleri, Stockholm, Sweden.
2013 Days of Dreams & Visions, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Respire, Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto, ON.
Alchemy, Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, QC.
An Involuntary & Unconscious Memoir, Galerie St. Laurent & Hill, Ottawa, ON.
Eternalism, Foster White Gallery, Seattle, WA.
2012 Wanton, Wild, Reckless, Abandonment, Campton Gallery, New York, NY.
Arriving at a Landscape, Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto, ON.
The Here & Now, Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, QC.
Press
PRESS
Selected Artworks
Born
Vancouver 1973
Selected Corporate Collections
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Toronto, ON • Fraser, Milner & Casgrain LLP, Edmonton, AB • Global Affairs Canada • Manulife Financial, Toronto, ON • Weber Shandwick • Thorn Mark Investments • Ministry Of Foreign Affairs, Canada • Lawson Lundel Lawson • Sutton Place Hotel • Pen-Cor Mortage and Investments • Royal Bank of Canada • Scotia Mcleod • Nordstrom’s, New York City • Liquidity Wines • Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Toronto, ON • Vancouver General Hospital • Thornmark Asset Management Inc., Toronto, ON
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024 A Window or A Mirror, Equinox Gallery, Toronto, ON
Time Flows Through Narrow Spaces, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, Montecito and St. Helena, CA
2023 Winged Victory, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, ON
Partly Truth PArtly Fiction, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2022 Forest for the Trees, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, BC
The After Party, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Between Always and Never, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, ON
Transcribing the Elements, Tayloe Piggott Gallery, Jackson Hole, Wyoming
2021 The Hard Work of Spring, West Vancouver Art Museum, West Vancouver, BC
Storms & Calm Waters, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto, ON
Folding Outwards, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, CA.
2020 The Tender and the Unnerving, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee, Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto
Equinox Gallery, Vancouver
Papier Contenporary Art Fair, Montreal
2019 SCOPE Miami, Caldwell Snyder Gallery
Maximalist, Minimalst, Caldwell Snyder Gallery. St. Helena
Fragile State, Equinox Gallery. Vancouver
Harmony Arts Festival, Ferry Building Gallery, Vanouver
Art Toronto
2018 Perception of Sound, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco
Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
Art Beijing
Art Toronto
2017 An Outline Broken, Cohim Gallery, Beijing, China
Art Toronto, Toronto, CA
Art Market San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Impure Crystals, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
2016 Bitter Sweet, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, CA.
Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto, ON.
Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, QC.
2015 Innocent Disobedience, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Seeds of Rebellion, Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto, ON.
A Beautiful Rebellion, Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
The Quiet Revolution, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, QC.
2014 Suspended Between Sweetness & Sorrow, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, St. Helena, CA.
Lovely Fugitive, Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto, ON.
The Lure of Magical Thinking, Bau-Xi, Vancouver, BC.
Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, QC.
Stories That We Tell, Couture Galleri, Stockholm, Sweden.
2013 Days of Dreams & Visions, Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Respire, Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto, ON.
Alchemy, Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, QC.
An Involuntary & Unconscious Memoir, Galerie St. Laurent & Hill, Ottawa, ON.
Eternalism, Foster White Gallery, Seattle, WA.
2012 Wanton, Wild, Reckless, Abandonment, Campton Gallery, New York, NY.
Arriving at a Landscape, Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto, ON.
The Here & Now, Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, QC.
Bobbie Burgers’ large-scale paintings and drawings expand and explode the tradition of floral still-life with vivid, gestural blooms. In the more than two decades of her practice, her trajectory has moved from images approaching realism to, more recently, abstracted blossoms that double as metaphors for the act of painting, which Burgers compares to the brief, fragile lifespan of a flower: a moment to be grasped “with all its frailty and complexity.”
Burgers is interested in the process of decay, transformation, and metamorphosis. With a distinct style that merges abstraction with representation in increasing degrees, her work brings together instinctive compositions while revealing her precise powers of observation. Remarkable for their compositional rhythms, bold coloration, and sweeping gestural brushstrokes, Burgers’ paintings bring alive the fundamental quest to express something personal, subjective and emotive, in a poetic, abstract way.
Largely self-taught, Burgers has drawn inspiration from early Dutch still-lifes and the history of Chinese painting, which she investigated in-depth during her travels for a recent exhibition of her work in Beijing. Her paintings have been compared to and exhibited alongside those of Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell, and Jack Shadbolt—artists who, like Burgers, are interested in the relationship between art and nature at the core. Of Burgers’ take on this relationship, Critic Dorota Kozinska has written that her “subject never feels excised from nature, but rather breathed in and exhaled as art.”
Burgers lives and works in her hometown of Vancouver, where she received the Vancouver FANS award in 2013 and teaches at the Gordon Smith Foundation. She has exhibited her work at galleries, museums, and art fairs internationally.
Biography
Press
"This body of work delves into the practice and rhythms involved in creating art. In general, the word ‘practice’ has been greatly overused and distorted by artists and designers. ‘My artistic practice’ or simply ‘my practice’ are the words used by creatives to refer to this ephemeral thing encompassing not only the physical results of their toil, but also their ideas, ethos, struggles, creative identity and sometimes even as vindication for or distraction from their lack of real outcomes. A Practice is something solid enough to be pointed to when asked, yet defies any real attempt at examination or substantiation. This has always been confounding to me, as I drag myself to a cold studio day after day, in the midst of painting a show, each day working for hours before finally finding momentum, only to leave and have the whole cycle begin again the next day.
To me, this isn’t A Practice, it is quite literally practice. Practicing the same brushstrokes until they become muscle memory and finally dissent to take on a life of their own, practicing the descent into that difficult-to-find subconscious place where there is flow and chaos but still control, practicing knowing when to stop and take a step back, knowing that when you do, you’re letting go of that state, and it will be many hours the next day to get back into it. That is often the hardest part; giving up that hard-earned flow and the feverish creativity that your worked so hard for. This show is in many ways a culmination of that practice, a physical embodiment of those creative rhythms; chaotic, wild and a reflection of my subconscious actions, yet trained by my conscious mind." - Bobbie Burgers
Bobbie Burgers
"My story is fragmented, it is up to the viewer to piece it together."
This collection is about nature’s seasonal unfolding. Emotions undergo a similar cycle of highs and lows, whole cycles can start and finish, causing great upheavals.
"This body of work delves into the practice and rhythms involved in creating art. In general, the word ‘practice’ has been greatly overused and distorted by artists and designers. ‘My artistic practice’ or simply ‘my practice’ are the words used by creatives to refer to this ephemeral thing encompassing not only the physical results of their toil, but also their ideas, ethos, struggles, creative identity and sometimes even as vindication for or distraction from their lack of real outcomes. A Practice is something solid enough to be pointed to when asked, yet defies any real attempt at examination or substantiation. This has always been confounding to me, as I drag myself to a cold studio day after day, in the midst of painting a show, each day working for hours before finally finding momentum, only to leave and have the whole cycle begin again the next day.
To me, this isn’t A Practice, it is quite literally practice. Practicing the same brushstrokes until they become muscle memory and finally dissent to take on a life of their own, practicing the descent into that difficult-to-find subconscious place where there is flow and chaos but still control, practicing knowing when to stop and take a step back, knowing that when you do, you’re letting go of that state, and it will be many hours the next day to get back into it. That is often the hardest part; giving up that hard-earned flow and the feverish creativity that your worked so hard for. This show is in many ways a culmination of that practice, a physical embodiment of those creative rhythms; chaotic, wild and a reflection of my subconscious actions, yet trained by my conscious mind." - Bobbie Burgers